The International Astronautical Congress (IAC) held in Paris this week was an opportunity for the French start-up Interstellar Lab to present its first BioPod, a kind of waterproof and autonomous greenhouse that allows to recreate the ideal parameters for growing plants in the Earth, in space and on the Moon…
The mood was festive on September 20, 2022 in Ivry-sur-Seine at the premises of French startup Interstellar Lab, which that night unveiled its first BioPod, assembled in about six months by a team of enthusiastic young computer engineers. scientists and agronomists. Biopod is the name of a kind of closed greenhouse, a waterproof and autonomous structure of 55 mtwo Which enables recreate the ideal parameters for growing plants. This autonomous system should one day allow the inhabitants of a lunar base to be fed; or in the nearer future to supply the pharmaceutical industry with precious plant molecules and perfumers with more concentrated essences.
Arch of plants and aeroponics
This floor arch, with a futuristic design, is the realization of the project visionary of Barbara Belvisi, 37 years old, who first worked in the financing of hardware start-ups (design of computer equipment). In 2018 she decided to change her life, now with the desire to “solve the problems of the planet such as water management or food production”. Because, how do you remember Barbara Belvisi during this opening night, uA quarter of greenhouse gas emissions, drivers of ongoing climate change, come from today’s traditional agriculture. Furthermore, two-thirds of the world’s fresh water is now used for agriculture. By 2050, this use should increase by 15%.
Another more sustainable solution, used in particular by the new “vertical farms”: aeroponics. Installed in trays without substrate, the roots of the plants are regularly sprayed with a fine mist of water enriched with nutrients (nitrogen, trace elements, etc.). It is then a matter of adjusting, in this environment on the ground, the conditions of light, temperature, CO2 and humidity, varying depending on the time of day or night, the season and the weather, depending on the plants[…]
More information at sciencesetavenir.fr